Scarlet Love
by The wiErDos Association
Summary: A simple request and a simple curiosity will bring up two people closer like never before. A NatsuxErza one-shot.
**A/N: Yow guys. This is my first one-hot for NatsuxErza pairing as this was a third of my favorite pairing list. I do like them of course, since their personalities are perfect and are in sync with each other. It's also inspired by some of the other NaZa stories that I come to like as well.**

 **So let's start.**

 **Have Fun and Happy Reading. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I would never own FT and its characters. Hiro Mashima owns them.**

* * *

 **\- Scarlet Love -**

"Please, teach me how to love." A sudden request almost got the scarlet knight choking on her throat as Natsu turned onto her for advise. Of course, it would be surprising to her, knowing that the pinkette was asking for such an unusual request. A matter of love no less in which everyone seemed to assume that he would never ever come to understand.

Yet, here he is... with eyes sparkling with determination and curiosity as if something must've driven him to ask such a thing.

Coughing softly from the side of the bar counter, Erza managed to recompose herself after recovering from the shock earlier and eventually gazed towards him with a embarrassed look.

"Wha...What are you saying all of a sudden? Do you know exactly what you're talking about?" Only a nod came from him in which calmed the redhead for a moment after releasing sigh towards him.

"I just wanted to know what it means to love someone." He honestly answered. This is one of the things that she somehow finds hard to confront with, seeing that he almost say things too bluntly and straightforwardly. It makes her uncomfortable to reply every now and then but she couldn't blame him for that. After all, he is but an innocent person who has doesn't come to understand complicated things when things are explained to him directly.

"Why do you suddenly want to know about love?" She replied, uncertainty building up to her system as Natsu unexpectedly drew a sheepish expression that she witnessed firsthand until he suddenly scratched the back of his head.

"Well, the thing is... ... ... well-uh. How would I say it?" He seemed to be troubled finishing his statement which only got the redhead to slightly lose her patience since she doesn't like being held back at anything.

"What?"

"W-Well, I just wanted to experience it myself... I see a lot of people doing the same but I don't know how."

"So basically, you just wanted to find out how you should love a person." She guessed.

"Maybe..." He sounded uncertain.

"Why would you ask me? I mean, there's a lot of people here who would answer better than me."

"Are you kidding? Mira will probably sugarcoat the answer, Lucy is kinda busy, Gray is useless, Wendy is embarrassed to say anything about it-"

"Wait! Did you just ask everyone about that?!" She asked in surprise.

"Ah, yeah... Why?"

A facepalm soon followed the redhead as her steel-clad hand lightly smacked towards her face before turning over to the pinkette with a displeased look on her face.

"Listen, Natsu... You don't casually ask everyone about that kind of thing... It's making everyone feel on edge." She replied.

"Why?"

"Because, it's a very sensitive thing."

"How is that sensitive? Wait a minute, are you also feeling that way since I just asked you?" He asked yet again and Erza could only see through his innocent heart wanting to know the very meaning of love.

"No... But most people would be." She stated before releasing a deep sigh as she placed down her cup down the bar counter and finally focused her attention to the curious pinkette.

"I see... Then, would you mind teaching me how to love?" His next question rather made her stumble a bit.

"L-Look Natsu... You know that I can't possibly teach you as something as complicated as that."

"How is that complicated? Does it need training or special technique?"

Again, Erza simply released another deep sigh. She was never good at telling things like romance or anything related to that because even she had little to no experience in it although she did get a heartbreak from it though ever since that day at the Tower of Heaven. It made her even more cautious to lock her heart inside her armor and decided to keep it that way for the rest of her life.

However, even in those painful times, Natsu was the one who opened her heart once more. It was sort of an admiration and undying trust rather than some love. She respected him as a valuable friend and comrade. That is all. There's nothing more to it.

But even so, her heart doesn't like things this way and her admiration towards him eventually grew to like-

She's not sure of what to describe that one word. There are a lot of meanings behind it and finding it was difficult. Because of that, their relationship never really gotten further between the bonds of a true friend and ally.

Right now, she could only wonder about their relationship as friends. Due to that, she never actually noticed herself spacing out in front of her and Natsu noticed it.

"Hey, uh- Erza?" Somehow his words snapped her out of her trance and eventually turned towards him again with a complicated expression.

"Y-Yeah?"

There was a light pause between them before Natsu answered.

"It's bothering you, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"The question, I mean... Sorry if it's a bit too much... I guess, even you cannot answer that directly." He apologized and tried to walk away to forget about it, leaving her conflicted to answer to him.

A slight wave of hesitation went over to her body as if her hand tried to reach out to him, wanting to say something but doesn't have the words to tell anything to him.

"N-Natsu!" She finally called out.

The pinkette eventually stopped and slowly glanced back to the redhead with a confused expression.

"Yeah?"

.

.

There was a long pause for a moment as Erza tried to form up statements on how she would be able to help him with his problem. It was not a problem though. It was more like his growing curiosity over a sensitive subject. Of course, she can't just leave him like that knowing that she was once his teacher that taught him how to learn to spell words.

Let it be known that he never really included it to be some sort of a teaching lesson. She'd literally tortured him with complicated words that left him lifeless afterwards.

Nevertheless, he did learn something out of it and he was grateful to it.

Going back to the scarlet knight, Erza stuttered to say something to him as her face sightly blushed for a moment, exposing her reddened cheeks in which Natsu eventually noticed and tried to ask in worry,

"Hey uh- are you okay, Erza? You look kinda heating up... Do you have a cold or something... Eh, but that would be impossible now since you were strong." His last statement was a bit muffled as he murmured into himself, pondering over that thought.

"Natsu!" Again, her voice started become more firm as Natsu jolted into attention upon noticing the change of her tone.

"Y-Yes?!" He quivered.

"Do you... ... want me to help you with that?" She slightly muttered in which made him harder to understand despite having heightened senses.

"What?"

"I said, do you want me to help yo with that- umm... that problem?" She immediately began to returned back to her flustered self in which Natsu hadn't seen for the first time though he took little attention to it.

"You mean, about that love-thingy? It's fine if you don't want force yourself teach me... I was just curious, that's all. It just started when Gray started hanging out with Juvia one day so I don't get that much fight with him." He sheepishly replied back to her while scratching the back of his head.

Oh yeah, that's right... It also came to her attention to find out that Gray was already going out with Juvia. It seems like he finally found his answer back at the Grand Magic Games. She could only wonder if she had any help with their relationship.

Nevertheless, she was glad that it worked out quite well for them. However, it soon sparked a curiosity to Natsu since he doesn't have his rival to keep him occupied for the rest of the day and it resulted him being led here, asking questions about love.

With her good thinking and sharp understanding towards the situation, she easily recognized his reasons of doing so.

"So you're just troubled that Gray never hangs out with you anymore?"

That question made Natsu choke from his throat as he immediately turned away with a sarcastic look on his face.

"M-Me? Troubled by that Ice-prick? Not in a million years!"

His frantic excuses tells the truth alright.

She momentarily sighed for a moment before gazing over to the huffing dragonslayer who had been murmuring to himself, cursing the ice mage in between sentences before immediately noticing her faint gaze towards him.

"Is there something wrong in my face?" He tried asking.

"N-Nothing... Anyways, what do you think?" She stuttered.

"What do I think?"

"D-Do you want me to help you about how to love someone?" Her reddened cheeks flushed out again.

"Hmm... I don't mind about it... I already told you already that it's fine but if you insist then I guess I don't have that much choice." He reluctantly agreed.

"I see... I'm glad-" Erza immediately stopped for a moment at the choice of her words. What the hell she was glad for? It's not like she was relieved that she get to teach him about the real concept of love. Her heart unexpectedly beats fast just after her thoughts overwhelmed her for a moment before slowly recomposing herself and faced the curious pinkette in front of her.

"So where should we start?" He asked.

"Well, I think we should start by lectures... I'm sure, it will give you more some hindsight about how love works."

And at that moment, Natsu's body froze.

"L-Lectures...? Y-You mean-"

"That's right. We're going to have a private lesson together again... Ahhh, how I missed those days." She smiled while reminiscing the past. Natsu, on the other hand, simply went pale just after remembering that same trauma he had with Erza about teaching. He knew all too well about how rough she could be when giving some lessons about topics to someone and he was probably one of those victims who barely came out alive in one session.

Right now, he couldn't know if he can survive.

"W-Wait a moment, Erza... There's no need for teaching and stuff... I kinda get what love is so please enough with the lecture!" He suddenly failed his arms in protest of her suggestion which only caused her to ponder for a moment to rethink their strategy.

"Is that so? Are you sure about that?"

Only a brief nod came afterwards.

"Well, if you know that much, we could do something practical." She proposed.

"Huh?"

Ignoring his confused expression, the scarlet knight turned to face him with a renewed gaze before reaching out a hand towards him.

"I guess we should start with that." She nodded a few times, seeing she wanted to confirm her decision by herself without his consent.

"Start with what?"

"Date." She bluntly replied.

"Date?" He repeated with a confused expression.

"Yeah... In order for you to experience love, you should have this kind of thing with the one you truly cared the most." She explained and it was not long until Natsu eventually came on speaking for himself.

"So I'll have to do this over and over again huh?" He realized but his answer simply got her stumbling on her feet.

"What do you mean over and over again?"

"Well, since you said that I should spend my time with the ones I cared the most... That would be Lucy, Mira, Wendy, Lissana-"

"STOP!" Erza screamed out loud with her iron-clad open palm right in front of the pinkette's face. Her face was immediately shaded in deep red as her thoughts were completely whacked out from that revelation.

"Just how many girls do you intend to date?"

"Eh? It's not just them... I would have to invite Gray, Elfman, Gajeel-"

"STOP!" She repeated her action once again. Only this time, she suddenly knew what he was talking about.

"What? Is something wrong to what I said?!" He asked confusingly.

"Everything is wrong of what you just said! I'm talking about the one you truly value the most." She clarified.

"Everyone in the guild is precious to me... I've never downgrade any one of them. I like all of you. You too Erza. Probably even more, I think since you're important to me." He bluntly replied though his last declaration made her face heat up once again as steam went out from her head before she tried shadowing her expression with her red hair bangs with a shaky feeling.

Well, she didn't expect him to suddenly blurt out as sensitive as that... And judging from her character, her constant reading of smut novels got her flustered with any romantic situations that she encountered with. This one, included.

.

.

The two of them eventually paused for a moment until Natsu noticed her slowly retreating from his figure and stood a few inches from him with her expression still shadowed by her scarlet hair.

"Uhhh... Erza?"

After that, the redhead suddenly lifted up her face full of embarrassment towards the pinkette.

"Muuooo! Just come with me!" Without warning, she took his hand by surprise and began pulling him close to her and went out from the guild, causing the pinkette to be surprised as well after having himself get dragged on somewhere.

"W-Wait a minute! Where are we going, Erza?!"

"We're going on a date!" She declared and it didn't take long until her statement caught attention of some of the guild members inside, seeing their heads immediately turning towards the fleeting duo at the doors.

.

.

"What's that?! Erza's inviting the Flame-Brain on a date?! Has the world ended right before we know it?" Gray muttered in disbelief.

"I'm pretty sure it isn't..." Lucy deadpanned.

While some of their team members are talking about the predicament, a pair of sparkling eyes was seen from the bar counter as Mirajane's smile grew wide and mischievous after hearing such a scoop.

However, she decided to not pursue them for the time being. But a little peek later would be such a great sight for her to gossip about.

Oh, she could only hope that Erza wouldn't fall under her own trap. If she did- well, something is bound to happen between the two of them later on.

* * *

 ** _Outside the guild... Near the townsquare of Magnolia._**

The town itself was still bustling as ever. People flock the streets, moving into different places and shops to buy their needs and wants throughout the day. The sun was in its peak and the heat was almost intensifying.

Natsu had no problem with the heat though, thanks to his constitution of being a fire type mage. Erza is much sort of a resilient woman who doesn't mind the heat too much. And since she took out her armor and left herself with her blue skirt and white blouse with a blue ribbon strapped near unto her neck.

She still had her hold on his hand for quite some time now, dragging him to places he don't know of.

"Where are we going actually, Erza?" It was then he tried to speak after being pulled for quite some time by her.

"Just keep quiet and follow me." She insisted.

"Well, you're pulling me so how can I not follow you?" He turned to point over her hold unto his right hand in which she immediately let go and eventually stopped at the same time as Erza shook her head while facing away from the uncertain pinkette.

A short pause between them followed as the scarlet knight soon began to speak as she turned around and faced him with a huge smile in which Natsu had never seen before.

"Hey, Natsu... Would you accompany me for a date?" She asked in such a girly way which caused him to slightly stutter in surprise towards her unusual actions.

At first he hesitated since he'd come to see this new side of hers that he never even knew existed. If he did, he assumed that it's not that real for him to accept since he viewed her to be a strong figure and idol.

"Uhhh- are you okay, Erza?"

"Hmm? Why do you ask?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

"W-Well, I just- well, you know... It's just that you seemed not yourself today... Did something happen earlier?" He asked worriedly but he doesn't know where to put his worries though after sensing the good atmosphere between them.

"Not at all... So about that date? Where should we go first?" She turned the subject in which even confuses the dragonslayer even more.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute! Are you alright with this? I don't want this to be bothersome for you so please don't force yourself, Erza." He tried dissuading her suggestion but he was stopped as she immediately lean herself close to his face. Their distance were mere inches towards each other as Natsu felt a hot feeling rising up to his face despite his obliviousness.

Even a dense person can still get flustered if a girl's face was inched closer to his.

And not only that, he saw her face, seemingly pouting in irritation and then going in for a flustered yet unsure expression as she retreated back to her form before speaking.

"Am I that a nuisance to help?" She muttered disbelievingly. Her conflicted expression simply got him rigid and eventually defeated as he couldn't seemed to push her away after putting up such a face.

But honestly though, she is totally not herself right now. He wondered if it had something to do with their talk earlier.

Going back to the scarlet-haired woman, Natsu could only sigh inwardly before looking back towards her.

"I-It's not like that though... I'm just worried that you might be pushing way too much for this... I mean, it's just a question... Why did it have to go all the way through here?"

"Because you will never come to understand fully of it without this."

"Do we really have to?"

"Yeah."

"And you're fine with this?"

"Why do you ask that?" She asked curiously.

"Well- it's just that you're hanging out with me... who don't know anything about this... Don't you think that's pretty annoying?" After hearing that reply from him, Erza bit her lip in frustration upon seeing himself as an useless person who don't have the slightest clue of what's going on.

Sure, he's totally an idiot when it comes to these kinds of things but even she would not label him as a total oblivious person because he had shown his own love and care for his family in the past few years. Even though it turned out to be a familial love, it's still shows something deep as a love for someone.

Right now, he's on the step on realizing this type of love with her help and he still regarded himself as a fool for it but that's not true at all.

Reaching out her hand towards his cheek, Erza could only smile for him before looking at his face in deep thought.

"You're not annoying to everyone, Natsu... I would never have the reason to call you that... You're a very important person to me, Natsu... That alone is enough for me to see you as someone that I truly cared about. You saved my life many times and even called out to me despite in my deepest despairs."

"Erza..." His voice calling out her name simply trailed off in thought as he felt her soft and tender arms touching his skin in mild warmth that he always felt whenever he lay down to her lap during trips. Needless to say, it was kind of soothing actually.

The only soothing feeling that he felt around her.

Without warning, he began to feel something weird inside his chest that he couldn't explain but decided to keep it to himself as she eventually let go of her hand while leaving the same faint smile that reassured him from his uncertainties.

"Feeling better?" She continued.

"Y-Yeah... Thanks." He blushed before slightly turning away his gaze from her and tried to hide his embarrassment. It was only for a moment until he finally glanced back to her with a renewed composure.

"I guess there's no helping it then... Let's go on a date." He finally decided.

"Sure!" A beaming smile went through the redhead's face as they finally took off yet again towards the other parts of the town.

..

..

..

A few hours later and they finally stumbled to a cake shop in which Erza often visits and it didn't take long for her to convince the pinkette to come along much to his depression since he was never good with sweets that much. He'd preferred meat and fire instead.

Oh well, as long as it's for the sake of learning about love, he had to accept it.

Pulling the dragonslayer by the arm, Erza dragged the reluctant pinkette inside. Very much like a typical scene where a girl drags the boy she likes to a place she wanted to go with him.

Pushing the glass door open, the two made their way inside as the sound of the bell above the door resounded inside. The shop was normally visited by a number of people, sitting in their own seats while eating their favorite sweets from their tables.

"Hoh, good afternoon, Erza-san!" A voice resounded from the back of the counter as both two turned to look towards the approaching figure in which Natsu didn't knew.

"Ah, Reina-san... Good afternoon." Erza greeted the girl in response.

"Are you here to buy your strawberry cake by any chance?"

"Ah, that too but I also have something in mind for today. Would you mind giving us some two seats?"

Reina didn't want to bother asking about what's going on but judging from her companion, it would seemed like she was treating him for a cake or possibly something. After a few moments, she nodded in response and eventually led the two in an empty table with two seats, suitable for the two of them.

They eventually settled down and got their respective menus right in front of them but Natsu had trouble finding the right food to eat for today. I mean, they're all sweets and there's no single meat labeled in here! Where's his favorite fire whiskey?!

"Are you done choosing yours?" It was then Erza's voice cut through his train of thought, causing him to lower the menu in front of him, only to see her finished with her order and is patiently waiting his.

"What did you order by the way?"

"Strawberry cake... I got 50 reservations for tonight so I'm taking only one of them for today's date." She replied. As expected, she really like strawberry cake.

Returning his own attention back to the menu, he reluctantly chose a chocolate cake out of randomness of his choosing since he doesn't find anyone of them to be his favorite but then again, it was all for the sake of learning love and eating sweets would not probably bad at all.

Giving the menus back to Reina, the two eventually waited for their orders as they simply sat onto their seats, talking to each other about some things.

..

..

"So what did you find?" Natsu asked.

"Nothing of sorts... Just a couple of lost treasures and other stolen goods from the ones they managed to steal... Nevertheless, the mages were apprehended and the loot is taken back to their respective owners. Their dark guild was soon dissolved after that." Erza explained. Apparently, they were talking about one of her solo jobs over the past few years.

"That's kinda nice... Going out on an S-Class job alone... I wonder how many buildings have you destroyed in one job?" Natsu could only imagine himself in one of those jobs, destroying everything he sees and burning other people's butts with his flames.

"If by chance, would you... ... accompany me on my next solo job?" She proposed in which only made him smile wide in joy.

"Really? Are you sure?!"

"Mmm.." She nodded.

"Cool! I'm all fired up!" He made his usual toothy grin which only made her smile in content just by seeing it.

It was also at that time when Reina eventually returned with their respective orders as she presented two plates with cakes of different flavor with one having chocolate and the other filled with strawberry.

"Here's your orders."

Erza made a short bow of gratitude towards her before she finally returned back to the counter.

Natsu, on the other hand, had trouble thinking on how he should eat his chocolate cake. He never actually ate sweets and this is his first time trying one. Erza immediately noticed his troubled expression as she simply put down her spoon and slowly grabbed his before scooping a small slice of his cake and presented it before him.

"This is how you eat it, Natsu." She said.

"Y-Yeah... Sorry, I don't know how to eat this... Strange, isn't it?" He laughed dryly but Erza could only smile towards him in which causes him to slightly blush.

"It's okay... It's your first time, right?"

"R-Right..."

He then slowly opened his mouth in which Erza slowly directed the filled spoon before he closed it again and began to chew in the process. She took out the spoon and waited for him to say something about the flavor itself.

.

.

Within after a moment, his eyes soon sparkled in delight, seeing that he found the cake quite delicious.

"It's good!" He complimented.

"I'm glad..." She smiled in relief but had to stop for a moment after realizing something.

Come to think of it, she was supposed to show him about how love works, not enjoying themselves together. What were they doing actually? Although it was just a fake date between them, she seemed to be enjoying herself together with him.

A heat of blush rose up to her cheeks until a trail of steam blows above her head, lowering it down to hide her embarrassment.

"Hey, Erza... Can I try your strawberry cake?" It was then, Natsu turned towards her cake in which immediately got her back from her flustered expression and looked towards him in shock.

"E-Eh? You want to try mine?"

"Yeah... I always see you eat the same cake and I was just curious if it's alright to have a try."

"S-Sure... Go ahead." She unknowingly replied back in agreement.

After that, Natsu simply scooped a small slice from it, knowing that she is a hungry beast when it comes to her cake. It was a miracle that she actually allowed him to take some of her favorite cake despite knowing her insatiable hunger towards them.

He chewed on the slice for a moment before gulping it down to his throat.

"It's good too... No wonder why you eat them so much." He said.

"I-Is that so? Well, you can some if you ask me about it, okay?"

"Yeah... sure." For a moment their gazes simply landed right between each other. Both of them somehow got caught in a state of trance as they can't seemed to avert their glances at each other.

However, Natsu eventually got himself back on track as he quickly glanced away from him as if he was scared or something in which got the scarlet knight to eventually worry. Both of their cheeks were blushing but Erza could see the uncertainty in the pinkette's eyes as he continued to look away from her.

A small frown went unto her face as she also recomposed herself and faced the other direction. They were silent for a few seconds until she remembers their objective of this date.

"S-So... how do you feel about our date?-" Erza had to cupped her mouth for a second after realizing the mistake of her statement to him.

What was she trying to say? Why is she asking about his feelings in their date? She was supposed to guide him and tell the mechanics in learning about love. However, Natsu, oblivious as he is, didn't notice her mistake and eventually gave her an honest answer.

"It's good... I mean, I kinda feel happy about it since I'm hanging out with you. Plus, the cake was delicious so..."

"I-I see... That's good... This is the first step on how to have a successful date.."

"Wait... I thought, you said you were going to show me how to experience love."

"Eh?"

"I already told you before, right? I want to know what it means to love someone."

Erza felt the need to smack her head for a moment there again. What is she trying to do in this situation?!

A huge blush went up to her face, almost matching her own hair color as her expression flushed due to embarrassment until Natsu noticed her and tried to ask in worry.

"Hey, are you alright, Erza?"

Ignoring his question, Erza immediately stood up from her seat and quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him away outside with a steaming face.

"N-Next is... we're going on a walk together..."

"H-Hey! I haven't finished my cake!" But he was ignored and in just a few seconds, the two were already outside with the pinkette being pulled along to wherever the scarlet knight wants him to go.

..

..

..

A few hours has passed and the two continued to wander in some parts of the town, with the redhead pulling Natsu by the arm as if he was some sort of baggage since his body was merely dragged along with her.

Natsu didn't even know if this is also part of the plan in having him to love someone but-

This is Erza we're talking about. If she's anything, she knows what's she doing despite it involves much pain and physical violence. At least, he was used to it.

Taking another turn towards the townsquare, Natsu tried to break free from her hold and eventually recomposed himself before looking back at the still flustered redhead in front of him.

"Hold on, Erza."

"What's the matter?"

"I was just thinking... How will this date would actually help me love someone?"

"Well... that's-" She paused for a moment to think deeply on what he just said. Come to think about it, how would a date actually help him fall in love? She was just so embarrassed and eager to help him and thoughtlessly asked him out on a date as a practical session on having him to experience love. What's even more strange is that, how would he possible fall in love since the person whom he is with is her right now.

She never really thought out the outcome and just decided on her own.

While she was busy trying to come up with an answer, Natsu turned away his attention from her and gazed at his surroundings. So far, this part of town isn't that bad at all since it was filled with normal shops and other places worth sightseeing. The flow of people in this part seemed to be less than it was back at the cake shop.

"Hey, Natsu... Are you listening?" Erza asked upon noticing his attention not entirely to her.

"Y-Yes..." He said halfheartedly.

"We're still not done yet with our date... Come on, there's still a lot of time to hang around town."

"How about in this place? It sounds quiet and peaceful." He suggested.

"You don't want to go to the food stores?"

"I'm fine with this... Plus, I'm starting to enjoy this date of ours." He smiled warmly to her in which causes her to blush yet again as she huffed towards his reply.

"I-Is that so?" She stuttered.

While trying to hide her flustered expression to him, Natsu didn't waste any time to enjoy the moment and simply took hold of her hand this time in his own initiative.

"W-Wait! What are you doing-"

"Come on... I thought we're going on a date... Let's go and have some fun, Erza!" Again, he smiled warmly at her which left her with nothing to say as she was left stunned at his own sudden change of expression just now.

Since when did he become so liberal towards her. He was just unprepared a few minutes ago and now he's already taking her around town.

It doesn't sound bad to her. At least, he's matured enough to take the lead rather than her taking the role for the whole day.

A small smile crept its way unto her lips as she decided to let him do the dragging and simply went on again to resume their date.

Both of them went on from different places and talked to each other about their own lives. There were a couple of laughs and gigs all around their conversation and this was the first time, they'd ever talk to each other alone about their own likes and dislikes since most of their lives are circled around their friends together.

They never took the time to take a break from it. Surprisingly, they learned a lot from each other in this day. To think, that they were things that the two of them don't know about each other despite having to spend a long time together since childhood.

Natsu never expected that Erza would keep such cute girly stuffs in her home as she reluctantly showed him a lot of stuffed pillows from her requip inventory. Although, it may sound boring, he was glad to know that even she could be a girl sometimes.

Not that he actually knows that she is one since he always portrayed her to be some kind of bossy person. But with her right now, it seems like she was a whole different person.

The Erza that he alone would ever have to see for himself. She was more open and friendly. Her voice wasn't authoritative and firm as if she was just a normal woman.

And her actions differ that of a violet person whom he and the rest of the others feared back at the guild. He wondered if she was just using this to help him in this date.

Erza on the other hand, could still feel the warm feeling inside her chest as their time together was spent on their date. Despite being practical, it is as if they never really regarded this a fake one but rather a real one since both of them never mentioned much about their original purpose and that they were actually having fun.

She didn't even need to wear any armor to cover herself. She didn't want to hide anything from the man who saved her life. The only thing she was hiding was her true feelings.

.

.

That's right.

Ever since being saved by him a few years back, she somehow grew a sort of admiration towards him. His strength, courage and loving care towards his friends actually made her to see in a different light.

But all the while, she can't push their relationship that much. After all, she had gone through a painful experience and the love of her past hurt her even more. If Natsu wasn't there for her, she would've experience something even more hurtful for her heart to bear.

However, all of that is in the past and Natsu was able to forgive him but-

Despite all that hurdles, she can't deny herself being conflicted for some reason.

And because of that, she never had the chance to progress their relationship as mere close friends. But with things right now, she might have actually have the opportunity, to at least tell him what she really feels about him.

The two simply enjoyed themselves spending their time in sightseeing and taking a stroll in a wooden bridge while looking down at the river below. They visited some familiar places and recalled back to their old memories in those times.

Needless to say, the memories of their childhood was mostly Natsu being pummeled by Erza for his stupid actions. There weren't any decent memories where they actually didn't have to beat each other up but it somehow left a laugh for the two of them

Natsu was also able to buy something for the redhead. It was ruby necklace that he somehow found in the jewelry shop as Erza was trying to browse some accessories for her own armors. It was sort of a fitting color for her, seeing her hair matches that of a red color. At first, it was kind embarrassing to buy it since this was his first time giving something for her without wanting any exchange.

But at the end of it, all he saw was the warm smile of hers when she tried it on and eventually decided to keep it in remembrance of their date.

..

..

..

It was already in the afternoon and the sun was already at its descending phase and the people were beginning to return back to their homes as the streets slowly emptied themselves, leaving only a couple of few around.

Natsu and Erza also started their way back to the guild, seeing that they finally consumed a lot of their time on their date. Both of them had a great time but Erza was not sure if the objective was fulfilled or not.

A frown slowly began to replace her happy expression upon recalling their purpose of going out together. Aside from the imminent end of the day, she was crestfallen, knowing that their date had eventually come to an end.

She knew all too well that they can never stay like this forever and that both of them would have to return back to their normal lives soon, turning this date into somewhat a memory for the two of them... but she didn't want that.

There's still a lot of things that she wanted to do. She wanted to spend more time with him. She wished that it would just last bit more longer for the two of them together.

"It's getting late... I guess we should also head back to the guild soon." Hearing those words from him, Erza felt a stinging pain from her chest.

"I-Is that so? I guess there's no helping it, huh?" She sounded a bit saddened but Natsu never noticed it.

"I guess so... ... It was really fun hanging out with you, Erza... ... We should do this again some time."

"Yeah... ... ... Anyways, did you finally get to know about love?" She changed the subject. Her voice sounded mournful.

"What do you mean?"

"This is what our date is for, right? You should tell me what you honestly feel about it..."

"Well... ... I don't feel weird or anything in our date. I was kinda having fun. I'm just happy that I was able to make you happy..."

 _Please don't say that's all._

"I learned a lot of things and more importantly about you... It was very surprising for me. Even though, we're friends for a long time..."

 _"Please don't say it._

"I had fun... Having a date with you is very great. I couldn't ask for a better friend. Although, I'm not really ready for love or anything, I'll glad to have a friend like you with me-"

He wasn't given the time to finish as he immediately noticed her tears streaking down from her eyes as she looked at him in sadness.

"I don't want it..." She muttered.

"I just don't want it to be just like that..."

"Although, it was selfish, I just don't want our relationship to be just like that... It's unfair..." She whispered unto herself as Natsu noticed her sudden change in behavior.

She was crying. This is the second time he saw her crying right in front of him. Although, he promised to himself- Yet, he wasn't able to say anything to soothe her.

"Erza..."

"Why Natsu?! Why can't we be more than friends...? It's unfair... ... You're too unfair, even though I fell for you, I just can't accept everything about us... I- I love you, Natsu..." She cried as she vented out her feelings to him which also shocked the pinkette upon hearing everything from her.

"E-Erza... I-"

"I can't help it, Natsu... I-I really fell in love with you. It hurts just by hiding it from you."

Natsu couldn't do anything to help her. Only one thing came inside his mind as he slowly moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her softly close to him. This is the only thing he could only do for her. He doesn't have anything to say anything to her. He had no right to.

He didn't know that she feels that way. He always thought that she had her own heart for someone else.

"Erza... ... I'm sorry." He spoke softly as he could feel her sobs while also breaking away from their embrace.

She was really a different person when she was acting like a girl. It is as if her strong figure inside his mind was just a lie to him. The real her was standing right next to him, crying and expressing her own true feelings that he didn't know.

"Natsu... ... I-" She stopped as he begins to hold her close to him again.

"You don't need to say anything... ... I'm just stupid to understand things like this. I still don't understand about love but- I feel happy that you said you love me... I never knew that you hold such feelings for me. I'm really an idiot for not noticing it earlier..." He paused.

..

..

There was a long silence as Erza's silent sobs resounded around them.

..

..

"... Hey, Erza... Can I ask you something?" He continued.

"..."

"When you told me that you love me, I just had this warm feeling inside my chest... Is it normal?" He asked but Erza could only stifle a light giggle which was completely unusual for her to do such a thing.

"Yes."

"Does it happen when someone tells the other his feelings?"

"Yes... Is it bothersome?"

"W-Well, not exactly. Rather, I feel happy." He smiled.

"I-I see..." She stuttered in her statement as her cries were already gone and was only replaced yet again with embarrassment, seeing the two of them hugging each other alone.

"Erza." He spoke out her name once again.

"Hmm?" She was about to glance towards him until a soft sensation went through her lips. Her eyes widen in surprise as Natsu's face was close to hers and their lips eventually met each other. The moment between them had stopped in time as if there was a long wave silence between them as they kissed in the setting sun.

The shadows of their figures stretched as far to the other side as the sun's bright auburn light shone its last light to the world and to be reborn on the next day.

Eventually, their lips parted as both of them slightly panted from their first yet long kiss together. Both of them had their cheeks shaded in red color, seemingly unable to hide their embarrassment even to Natsu himself, seeing that he somehow knew the flow of the atmosphere between them.

"N-Natsu... That was-"

"I love you too, Erza." He softly spoke in which caused her to flush in embarrassment despite recovering from their kiss earlier.

"E-Eh?"

"I think I know what this feeling really is... That's why I wanted to express it also of how I really feel about you."

"Natsu... ... Thank you." The strained, hesitant look melted away from her face and was replaced with a renewed, soft smile as she gazed onto him once more and slowly leaned closer to him, urging him for another kiss. Natsu didn't even hesitate and simply accepted her as their lips touched each other once more.

The pinkette slowly wrapped his arms around her waist as if wanting her close to him. Erza happily accepted his feelings and buried herself closer to his figure.

It was a truly memorable day for the two of them as they both finally found their scarlet love in the fleeting twilight.

* * *

 **A/N: And it ends here. Once again, this is my first fic about NaZa so yeah, I don't know anything else to say apart from that I enjoyed writing it since Natsu and Erza had great personalities that are perfect for each other.**

 **But this isn't the end of it... I'll try to write more these in the near future since I like this pairing aside from NaMi and NaWen.**

 **Anyways, leave a review and tell me what you think.**

 **That's all for now. See you on my other stories to come.**

 **\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...**


End file.
